NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Movie-Script Endings

It may not have matched the scoring flurry of Week 14, but Week 15 was the stuff movies are made of. From an unknown (to his own team) cornerback to a cast-off quarterback both getting redemption, Hollywood might have just gotten a couple of ideas

No, Week 15 didn’t top Week 14, because you don’t top five lead changes in the last three minutes of a game (Baltimore-Minnesota) and a back (LeSean McCoy) running for 100 yards in eight inches of snow in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter at Philadelphia.

But the stories in Week 15 … priceless. You just have to read the one, just six paragraphs south of here, about the man who was awakened in his California apartment a week ago today by the continual buzzing of his cell phone and a text from his agent imploring, “WAKE UP!” or he’d blow the chance of a lifetime: the chance to stare down Tom Brady and make the kind of play he was convinced he would never, ever have a chance to make because, you know, well, life’s not always fair to the undrafted guys who die on the vine on practice squads around the league. Michael Thomas, come on down! And there will be other stories. But here’s what you should know about the NFL pennant race with 33 games left in the regular season:

Five of the top six playoff seeds in the league lost over the weekend—by an average of 10 points. Anyone want to win the AFC? The Broncos ceded top seed in the AFC to New England by losing Thursday night. The Patriots gave it right back by losing Sunday afternoon and plummeting down to the third seed. The Bengals then lost Sunday night, going from second to third. End result: Nothing happened at the top of the AFC race. Absolutely nothing.

A lot happened in the NFC. Seattle looked like the ’76 Steelers shutting out the ’76 Bucs in the 23-0 whipping of the Giants, who were stunningly non-competitive. And three divisions got very interesting:

NFC North: Three teams separated by a half-game: Chicago (8-6), Detroit (7-6), Green Bay (7-6-1). The Packers’ win in Dallas, which, as I’ll explain in a few moments, had the victorious quarterback still emotional when he landed back in Wisconsin early this morning, may end up totally retooling the division. The Pack had been left for dead at 6-6-1, with Matt Flynn playing for a bitterly disappointed Aaron Rodgers, who wanted to start in Dallas but was overruled by the team doc. But the Packers found a bizarre way, thanks to Tony Romo’s generosity, to stay alive. If Green Bay wins out (Pittsburgh at home, at Chicago) and Detroit loses just one of its last three (Baltimore tonight, Giants next week, at Minnesota to close), Green Bay wins the division … and Chicago and Detroit wouldn’t even have a chance to be wild cards.

NFC South: The Saints have bristled against the they-stink-on-the-road label, but let’s face it: They stink on the road. They were crushed by the weirdo Rams in the Ed Jones Dome, and now they face an uphill battle to win the NFC South. Carolina wins the division by winning out (Saints at home, then at Atlanta), and the Saints, as the fifth or sixth playoff seed, could have a ridiculous path to a second world title in the Brees era: at a team like Philly or Detroit in a wild card game, at Carolina in a divisional game and at Seattle for the conference championship … all for the right to play a potentially sleety outdoor Super Bowl in New Jersey, when the Saints have lost four of their last five road games. Pardon the good people of Louisiana if they aren’t catching playoff fever this morning.

NFC West: Seattle looks like a lock for home field. Now the question is: Can surprisingly 9-5 Arizona reach the playoffs by winning two brutal games: at Seattle, San Francisco at home? It’s amazing that the Cards are in it at all, with the pace the Niners and Panthers have been setting. The good news for Arizona: Any team that’s 6-1 in a seven-game stretch cannot be ignored. The bad news: The Cards lost their last game at Seattle 58-0.

* * *

Miami snapped the schneid against the Pats. A guy some Dolphins don’t know was key.

Last Monday morning, San Francisco practice squad safety Michael Thomas was sleeping in on a victory Monday for the Niners. A day off, other than getting a lift and a workout in at some point during the day. At 10:20 a.m., late for Thomas, he finally paid attention to the vibrating phone and sat up. He’d missed four calls from his agent, Christina Phillips, and a text that said, “WAKE UP! There’s a team that wants you. If you don’t wake up soon they’re going to move on.” Thomas called, and the team was Miami. There was no time to think. Miami was offering a spot on the 53-man roster, the Holy Grail for practice squad players, and seeing that Thomas had spent all 22 game weeks last year and all 14 weeks so far this year on the San Francisco practice squad, he figured he’d better grab an active-roster spot. There was a flight at 2:30 from San Francisco to Miami, and he had to be on it. He made it, not even bothering to close down his Bay Area apartment. “No time,” he said. “I was just like, ‘Holy crap! I gotta go!’ ”

Thomas began to get schooled Tuesday by Dolphins assistant defensive backs coach Blue Adams, but all week he got the sense that the more immediate focus would be on playing special teams against the Patriots Sunday. “I was going to start on the punt-return team, I knew that,” Thomas said Sunday afternoon from the Miami locker room. He took no defensive snaps all week.

“I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty emotional. I was going out there knowing Tom Brady was coming after me.”

The night before the game, Thomas heard about its importance: Miami hadn’t beaten New England in the last seven tries. If the Dolphins wanted to have a good shot at being a wild card team, this game was the big one. So on Sunday, Thomas went in and played his part, running down on two special teams units, making a tackle on one punt play. But by the fourth quarter, corners Nolan Carroll and Brent Grimes were down. Thomas is a safety. He played the position at Stanford and in practice for the Niners. But right now, in the last five minutes, Miami didn’t need a safety. The Dolphins had to have a corner.

“You want your opportunity?” Adams said. “It’s time.”

“I’m not gonna lie,” Thomas said by phone from the locker room Sunday afternoon, when it was over. “I was pretty emotional. I was going out there knowing Tom Brady was coming after me.”

Michael Thomas’s breakup of a would-be Danny Amendola game-winning touchdown was the prelude to his game-clinching interception. (J Pat Carter/AP)

On the first snap of the last New England series, Brady found Thomas. Brady threw to Danny Amendola for 11. On the second snap, he found Thomas. Brady threw to Shane Vereen for two. “I was out there, getting help from [safety] Reshad Jones,” said Thomas. “He’d basically tell me what to do on most plays, like where to go and who to cover.”

Brady got to the Miami 19, with 27 seconds left. First down. The defense broke the huddle and saw the spread New England formation. Jones nodded over to Amendola, split right. “You got no help,” Jones said to Thomas.

No help. A safety playing cornerback in his first NFL game, in his first NFL quarter, against Tom Brady, in single coverage against one of Brady’s favorite targets. Thomas ran with Amendola.

“Then there it was,” Thomas said. “Tom Brady throwing at me.”

The ball was over Thomas’ head, bound for Amendola’s hands. All Thomas could think of was the lesson he’d learned as a defensive back long ago. Play through his hands. As a trailer on the play, Thomas knew to do everything he could to disrupt the ball in Amendola’s hands, and he did. Thomas knocked the ball away. No touchdown. Huge play.

Three plays later. Fourth-and-5 from the 14. Likely the last chance for Brady. This time Thomas would be in the slot, determined not to let a Patriots receiver get behind him with any cushion. Again Brady threw at Thomas, for Austin Collie, with another Dolphin also in coverage. The ball never got to Collie. Thomas jumped and picked it off.

The players he barely knew now were jumping on him, slapping him, celebrating. “Mama, I did it! I did it!” Thomas yelled over and over, but no one could hear him. No one could hear anything, because the stadium was so loud. And after the game, he cried. In Joe Philbin’s post-game press conference, the coach seemed not to remember the name of the hero who broke up one touchdown pass in the end zone and then intercepted another. “We had a player in there that I think got into the building on Tuesday,” Philbin said. That just added to the lore.

“I am overwhelmed,” said Thomas. “It is so much to realize, how my life has changed and how this happened—Tom Brady throwing at me, and I answered the call. The only thing I can say is I am blessed.”

Next time you hear some coach say, “It takes all 53 to win,” think of Michael Thomas. Imagine if he’d slept a couple more hours last Monday. Maybe Miami would be on an eight-game losing streak to New England right now instead of a one-game winning streak.

Peter King! Shame on you and your brethren (Costas). Do you even take note of the REAL facts, or simply appeal to emotion with zero basis in reason?

What law would have prevented the shooting at Newtown? CT had strict laws regarding arms, the killer violated the law from the minute he put his hands on any firearm.

I submit not a single law proposed or passed would have prevented the tragedy, NONE.

If gun laws work so well, please explain Chicago; it's an unmitigated failure, serving only to facilitate YOUNG, BLACK men killing each other over drugs. Yeah Peter, don't let that FACT offend your white guilt sensibilities. Is it factual or racist?

Facts bounce off you freedom hating gun grabbers like your thick skull is made of rubber.

When the NRA suggests armed security in schools, your side goes into the 2 minute hate, but hey - when Obama puts that plan into action and funds it, nary a peep. FACT buddy - explain it.

OK, last word - why not go get some facts. Not from the NRA, not from some gun grabber group, but unbiased data from the CDC.

CDC Recent Data

Age 15-25, causes of death:

56% - Motor vehicle

25% - Poisoning

5.3% - Drowning

1.8% - Other Land Transportation

1.7% - Fall

1.2% - Firearm

OK Peter, these are cold, hard, unbiased facts that COMPLETELY blow your hollow rhetoric out of the water, but you NEVER, EVER, EVER deign to address this and why, because facts do not support your position.

As a "journalist," you're a disgrace. Aren't you supposed to report FACTS and not push an agenda? And the reason you don't? You can't because you have no facts on your side. Instead of addressing my points, you shrink from them like a coward.

You are from the Mecca of Tyranny, NJ and now NY (Pre-Ban Big Gulp?), where only cops (and those with juice, like Robert De Niro) can defend themselves with arms by having a carry permit. And NYPD, they shot 9 innocent bystanders trying to hit ONE CRIMINAL. I feel safer already.

The Bill of Rights are Civil Rights and because you happen to not approve of ONE, you disparage it, vilify those who believe in the rule of law and promote treason.

You realize you are required to get a permit for a BB gun in NJ? Dude, grow a set. Only a coward would abdicate his moral and ethical duty to protect his wife and children in favor of having the state do it for him.

I don't expect a reply because you and those like you simply refuse to face facts and you should be ashamed.

On gun control, Peter, we'll know you are serious when you start condemning the film industry, which increasingly glorifies mayhem with guns of all sorts, and the video game industry, which poisons young minds with a steady stream of virtual violence beyond what should be accepted in a moral society.

Seattle's shutout of the Giants has put them in their own class with a Momentum-based True Win % of 76.3%. Denver (70.79%) and San Francisco (69.53%) trail in 2nd and 3rd place. These algorithm-based ratings account for game-by-game opponent strength and point differential.They are not end-all-be-all but help show some objective metric to base your individual evaluation on.

Houston is solidly in last place with Washington and Jacksonville "trailing".

Just have to say, Dez Bryant is a such a petulant infant. Actually,that's an insult to infants everywhere, as they haven't had the opportunity to grow and mature and learn the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship. If it were me calling the shots, he'd be benched the rest of the year and traded in the offseason. JJ must have a short memory, since Dez is basically T.O. v.2. I heard Mike Ditka say on the radio today, "You get what you tolerate." How true; the Cowboys keep tolerating (even defending) his incredibly juvenile behavior…and then he goes straight to the media to cry about being sorry and was "emotional" and didn't want to show any tears. Give me a friggin' break. Like the rest of those players weren't feeling emotional/upset about the game. Be a MAN and stand with your team - win or lose. Can you imagine Dez Bryant with Belichick or Chuck Noll, Lombardi, or Ditka? He wouldn't last 5 minutes. Time to stop coddling this man-child.

MMQB is becoming unbearable. I understand that people like the way PK rambles from one thing to another, but for those who prefer organized thought, its getting old. I like PK, but he's embarrassing the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.

Of the top 10 rushers of all-time. Only 2 not
in the Hall (Bettis and Tomlinson). Can NOT imagine Tomlinson not getting in on
first two ballots. Bettis at #6 HAS to get in!! And I don't want to hear about
his career 3.9 yds per carry...he was a halfback AND the short yardage/goal
line specialist on both Rams and Steelers. AND Emmitt (#1 all-time rushing) was
only 4.2 per carry AND Curtis Martin (#4 all-time) was only 4.0 per carry and
both those guys played w fullbacks. PUT BETTIS IN NOW!!!

a couple of things, 1, it wasn't the Ravens offense that propelled them to victory last week as it was the referees calling 2 terrible pass interference calls in the 4th Q and the phantom peel back block negating Corderelle Patterson's run to the 3 yard line early on and finally the phantom fumble call on Toby Gerhart which replays showed wasn't a fumble at all. Peter King you are such a company man for the NFL that you have lost your sense of reality. Also as to your call for more gun control, do you know what FO means?

Jerome Bettis a marginal player for the HOF? Are you f'in kidding? He's one of the all time great running backs and has the yardage to prove it! And as regards RGIIIs future, Terry Bradshaw was benched so many times before becoming the great player he became, he's still got splinters in his butt!

Stop guessing at who will be the next coach for the R E D S K I N S..eer I mean REDSKINS!!!!! we know your record on thoughts when you play GM or Coach or Strategy and it's NOT VERY GOOD, even Vinnie Cerrato laughs at that

Terrible pick for sportsman... He is a whiner, not a winner... After a loss last week, he blames the amount of plays they ran the game before... Before the NE game, he already made an excuse about playing in NE a lot more than his share. He is a bad choice...

First let me state, if you want a gun, have a gun. I personally do not own one. Do I believe that in our civilization we can eliminate guns? Of course not. Should we try? Again no. I am not naive.... I do not believe in Santa Claus or angels either.

However, the statement "No law would have prevented XYZ from happening" while possibly true is misleading. No one can claim that other mass shooting (or the like) have been prevented due to the laws because they have not happened. You cannot quantify what has been prevented.

And for those who say it is a right given by the constitution, your are absolutely correct. But don't leave out the fact it states in a "well regulated" militia.

So feel free, imho, to have all the guns you want. But I do not see the point of owning automatic weapons that are used for war. Should we be allowed to have grenades? Tanks? our own personal F-15? These are all "Arms" as well. The line needs to be drawn somewhere, no?

@Knowitall Ever seen Bowling for Columbine? I'm not a big fan of Michael Moore, but he essentially left zero doubt that the US gun violence issues have nothing to do with violence in games and film. Countries like Germany allow even more violent films to be seen by those under 18 years old; yet their gun violence issues are non existent. The incredibly violent films and games are just as popular or more frequent across the globe and virtually no correlation can be found between a countries entertainment violence and gun violence.

@brandon0206 Agreed. King needs to stick to sports and leave his politics off the site. Last time I checked sports illustrated was supposed to address sports. C'mon Peter, don't mess up an otherwise solid column.

@seankrego Well if not him, then who? Lebron has won it too many times, and while Brady is having a better calendar year given all of his losses on offense/defense, he's a bit of an a55hole (which is a good thing in some aspects.) Ergo, manning deserves it.

Well, I'm glad you aren't a proponent of treason; that never ends well as history has shown. And NO, civilization not only cannot, but should not attempt to eliminate arms from free people. That never works out well either . . . Stalin, Mao, Hitler . . . 250 MILLION

slaughtered by their own governments.And while we're at it, lets just lay it on the table: some people NEED KILLING. Yeah, a piece of garbage that would kill a helpless child or aged person should be eliminated from the gene pool, post haste.

Well if you can tell me what law would have prevented Newtown, I'm like Ross Perot (all ears). Let's hear your answer instead of dodging the issue.Hypothetical: we are side by side in church, a mad gunman bursts in and starts shooting. In my left hand I have my cell phone, in my right I have a pistol I have a permit to carry. Should I engage the shooter or call 911 (who will then dispatch persons with guns)?

Maybe you missed the news flash: the 2nd Amendment is an "individual right" not a collective one. See Heller v D.C., McDonald v Chicago. Try and stay current with the adults in the conversation.Now, as far as "automatic weapons" you really peel back the facade and show your ignorance. NOBODY used an automatic weapon at Newtown or any other place; if you're gonna have a discussion, try and understand the subject matter. Go read up the difference between a true assault weapon (can be fired in a fully automatic mode) and a semi-automatic weapon defined politically as an "assault weapon" because it looks, but does not function, like the former. Seriously, a substantive understanding is absolutely imperative to have an adult conversation. You sir have swallowed the media propaganda, hook, line and sinker.You've been duped and aren't even smart enough to know you're a rube.

Last I checked it was the "Bill of Rights" and not the "Bill of Needs as approved by brucemcfarlandoncins1" I don't see the point of a Mercedes, Hummer or SUV, BUT this is America and people are free to choose. You don't get to choose for me; you only get to choose for YOU buddy. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg.

I guess you'd be surprised to know that the majority of cannons used in the War of Independence were privately owned. I laugh when I write that: YES, a private citizen CAN buy tanks and military aircraft on the open market! Google is your friend, give it a try. I'm

actually in the market for a APC with tires because YES, you CAN tag them and drive them on the public roadways. LOL - I wish I could see your face.EVERY person has the most basic civil and human right - the right to self-preservation and survival. Does it shock you to know that 41 of 50 states issue concealed carry permits to law-abiding citizens? How about the fact that you may openly carry a firearm in PA, WV and so many, many more. Shocking the streets aren't running red with the blood of innocents huh? It certainly runs contrary to the rhetoric you and so many swallow whole.If your ideas had ANY merit, Chicago, NYC, etc., would be shining examples of a gun-free Utopia, so what gives? They are utter, dismal, absolute failures in every sense of the word. Absolute, incontravertable evidence your philosophy, policy and approach is an abject, catastrophic and deadly failure.OK, NOT A SINGLE PERSON in this or any other conversation will address the FACTS as recorded by the CDC below:CDC Recent Data

The hard truth is there is a national agenda to target firearms and firearm owners. If a drunk driver kills 5 people, we blame the drunk driver and not the car. If an insane person shoots 5 people, we blame the firearm and not the person! In what reality does this even pass for logic? You have to be screwed up in the head not to recognize how backwards that is.Words like "common sense, reasonable," and "compromise" are just code words for gun grabbers. A gun grabber's idea of compromise: they wanna infringe on ALL your 2nd Amendment rights (rob you of $100), but right now, they'll settle for stealing a portion of your civil rights (they rob you of $50). You want compromise, put something on the table. Let's talk about National Reciprocity for concealed carry permits. My driver's license is good in all 50 states, why should I have to shed my civil right of self defense at some arbitrary border? A permit to carry arms in one state should be honored by all states. The

FBI does ALL the background checks (ask me how I know), so it's not like a FL felon will be granted a PA permit.

I'm an American and the freedom I have is my birthright; I will not surrender it. I will not let ANYONE take it from me. You better ask yourselves who's doing all the killing and why they're doing it, and then focus your attention there. American gun owners have had enough.

On April 19, 1775 about 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. That event touched off the War of Independence.In March of 1861, the American Civil War began and left between 600,000-750,000 dead and unknown civilian casualties and war wounded. One in ten Northern males, aged 20-40 died; one in three Southern males suffered the same fate. You'd (the universal "you") do well to let law abiding American gun owners alone. Instead, turn your focus to the inner-city drug peddlers, the guys walking the street with 2 and 3 and 4 violent criminal convictions, numerous weapons charges. It's not pasty-faced, chubby, middle aged men in suburbia shooting it out on the front lawn over a missing newspaper DRUGS! THUGS!Get a clue.

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." ~ Patrick Henry speech, June 5 1788.

Actually "Know It all," if you deigned to watch Bowling for Columbine, you'd "know" that Mr, disdains all quick and simple "explanations" for why the shooting at Columbine happened. Just one example--Moore points out that in Canada, per capita ownership of firearms is substantially higher than in the US, and yet the Canadians level of gun violence is considerably smaller.

But as for your snarky comment, are you saying that other countries have do NOT have a considerably more violent film and entertainment than the US, yet lower rates of gun violence? Or are you just being a contrary idiot?

Because when gun grabbers exploit the anniversary it's a "tribute to the memory" and when pro freedom groups do it, somehow the tone changes to something despicable and inappropriate. Explain that, if you can.

So now you want to stifle speech as well as the civil right to self-defense?

I, and every person, has the RIGHT to self-preservation. Police have NO DUTY to protect any individual, so what would you suggest?